A weekly snippet of what’s happening ‘behind the hedge’ at Mercedes College…
Last week, our Year 11 Outdoor Education students took to the backwaters of the Murray River, traversing Ral Ral Creek. They spent their days kayaking along the waterways before setting up camp each night on the riverbank.
Running for four days and three nights, it was an immersive, hands-on experience that will be a wonderful school life memory for these students. It’s a great opportunity for them to take their classroom learning out into the world and put their skills to the test, as well as learning how to navigate and manage in unique and occasionally challenging environments.
If your children start feeling the winter blues during the school holidays – send them our way! Our Vacation Care programme offers lots of activities and excursions to fill the days with curiosity, challenge and adventure!
Kosti, our Vacation Care Director, has developed a programme tailored to suit all kinds of interests and passions… from the highly active to the creative and colourful.
Places fill up quickly, and some excursions have limited capacity, so have a look at our Winter Vacation Care Programme and book your place soon.
All bookings and payments are managed via Xplor Home. To set up a new account, email Kosti Dalianas for a unique link. Here is a helpful guide to finish the set-up process.
We have just over a week before our March family and their castmates take to the stage for our 2026 Theatre Production: Little Women.
Adapted from Louisa May Alcott’s classic tale of life and love, you’ll see the fiercely independent Jo, romantic Meg, devoted Beth, and mischievous Amy come to life as they each navigate and challenge some of the social norms of the 1850s.
There are only three performances, including a Saturday matinee, so book your tickets soon to enjoy this much-loved tale.
Last Friday, our Year 7 students spent the day at The Monastery participating in their annual Reflection Day.
Guided by the theme ‘Responding with Empathy and Integrity: Connections Beyond Borders’, students listened to the impactful, first-hand experiences of two local refugees, Erfan and Laila. They shared their stories of displacement and talked about the power of hope and the importance of resilience in the face of adversity.
The discussions with Erfan and Laila, alongside activities encouraging empathy and understanding displacement, kicked off their preparations for the Year 7 Mercy Movement – a social justice initiative that the cohort will share with our community at the end of this Term.
Over the weekend, four of our students gave their time to take part in the 77th Marian Procession at Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga.
Sophie (Year 10, Dalton), Alice (Year 10, Dalton), Emma (Year 8, Dalton), and Beatrix (Year 12 Social Justice Leader, McAuley) read out the Decades of the Rosary for the Marian pilgrims walking the circuit in honour of Mary.
Our students have been taking part in this event for more than 20 years, and it’s wonderful to see this tradition continue.
Photo credit: Ben McMahon Images
Last week, our Year 2 students explored the concept of ‘place’ by visiting different locations in our local area.
Blessed with beautiful weather, their walking tour took in nearby sites including Carrick Hill and Mitcham Reserve. They learnt about each location and did drawings of things of interest at each stop along the walk.
During the experience, students were encouraged to think more deeply about their local community and places that are meaningful to them.
Last week, 17 students from Years 4-6 represented Mercedes College at the City South Cross Country Day at Belair National Park.
In perfect overcast conditions, all our students committed to the challenging course, with individual achievements across the day resulting in our College finishing fourth in the district. This was a great achievement, given the smaller size of our team.
A special congratulations to Malaika (Year 5, Dalton), Xavier (Year 5, McAuley), Jake (Year 5, Dalton), Walter (Year 5, McAuley), and Maya (Year 6, Fitzpatrick), who all qualified to represent City South at the SAPSASA Carnival later this term.
Last week, our Open Girls’ Touch Football team participated in a Knockout competition for the first time in Mercedes College history!
Led by Coach and Mercedes dad Jason Farmer, our girls had a great competition and ended the day with 3rd place – a brilliant result for their first outing.
We look forward to following the Team as the season progresses!
A reminder that we have two important information sessions on the horizon for our upcoming international immersion trips.
Tuesday 26 May 5.00pm
Staff Room
French and Visual Arts Students (with parents)
Year 9 and Year 10 students
Tuesday 2 June 6.00pm
Mercy Lecture Theatre
Year 11 students booked to go (with at least one parent)
Families please RSVP here
Clever table themes and team names are rolling in for this year’s Quiz Night – It’s Easy Being Green!
We always look forward to seeing how our community interprets the theme each year, and this one will have many green with envy! Our Quiz night is one of the most fun-filled, colourful nights on the College Calendar and we are looking forward to another great night.
Spots are being snapped up, so book your table soon! We can’t wait to see you there… in all your green glory!
Friday 19 June
6.30pm – 10.30pm
Gleeson Theatre
Book your table here
This week, we join with our fellow South Australian Catholic schools to celebrate 181 years of Catholic Education in South Australia.
In recognition of this occasion, our student Social Justice Leaders created shining stars that our classes have been filling with examples about how open hearts can shine.
Some of the suggestions in the collection include “lending a hand”, “showing respect”, “including people when they’re lonely”, and simply “being with friends”.
Yesterday, our Year 5 students took park in a dazzling workshop about the science behind light.
Through a range of demonstrations and hands-on experiments, students explored the impact on lights by lenses, learned that light is an energy made up of tiny particles, and that it travels faster than anything else in the universe. They also learnt about UV light, and how the rainbow spectrum within light can be revealed using prisms.
It was a truly colourful and enlightening time!
More upcoming activities can be found on the College Calendar.
